


Easel

by LittleLinor



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: M/M, Marking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 18:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3299306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLinor/pseuds/LittleLinor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shingo Komoi, and how to navigate the dangerous seas of affection and shameless puppy boyfriends with minimal cardiovascular damage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Easel

Shingo opens the front door and almost has a heart attack.

It’s not that he wasn’t expecting him (Naoki had texted him to ask him if he could swing by since he was in the area, always considerate); it’s not that he’s doing anything wrong, either. It’s that with the weekend, Naoki has traded his school uniform for his more casual, almost low cut shirt, and the bruises that had until yesterday been hidden under his collar are painfully conspicuous on his neck and shoulder.  
Shingo is suddenly very, very glad that he had been excited enough to come open the door himself.

” _Ishida_ ,” he hisses, taking a step forward to grab the collar of Naoki’s jacket and pull it closer to his neck.  
"Huh?"  
"Your marks are showing," he sighs, busying himself with the zipper and arranging the jacket until they disappear from sight.  
"Oh, that. Yeah, it was hot and I’d kept it closed all morning so my bro wouldn’t make a fuss, so…" He tilts his head to the side, and Shingo does his best not to let himself be endeared by the gesture. "Is it a big deal?"  
” _Is it a big deal_ , he asks? Ishida, what if—”  
His mother’s voice cuts him off before he can splutter any more.  
"Shingo? Aren’t you letting your friend in?"  
Resisting the temptation to whine in frustration at his situation, he bumps his forehead against Naoki’s chest.  
"… try to look natural, okay?"  
Naoki’s grinning when he looks back up.  
"No problem."

To his surprise, it actually goes smoothly. Naoki greets his mother and little brother with polite enthusiasm, makes a good impression on his mother at lunch by complimenting a detail about her cooking that goes totally above Shingo’s head, and by the time they retreat to his room, he’s pretty sure that as soon as Naoki leaves, he’s in for a “you should bring your friends over more often” lecture.  
Inside, Naoki is looking around him like an excited puppy, taking in the room and Shingo’s quite impressive collection of Vanguard Monthly. When Shingo closes the door, he turns back to look at him with a happy grin.  
"So? I did good, didn’t I?"  
He’s so cheerful that Shingo doesn’t have the heart to even try to chide him for earlier. Instead, he walks up to him and reaches up to pet his hair once.  
"Yes you did. Good job."  
Before Naoki can distract him with his laugh, he lets his hand fall to his neck, then to the front of his jacket, and pulls down on his zipper, revealing his neck again.  
They had been red-ish with barely a hint of blue when he’d left them, but in the two days since them, the marks on Naoki’s neck and shoulder have turned into real bruises, dark purple with barely a hint of green along the edges. He runs his fingers against them, and Naoki sighs quietly, tilting his head so subtly that Shingo isn’t sure the gesture is deliberate.

"Does it bother you?" Naoki asks.  
"Hm?"  
"That I wasn’t hiding them."  
Shingo’s cheeks heat up, and he keeps his focus by tracing the edge of a bruise with his thumb.  
"Not _bother_ , exactly—I was worried.”  
Naoki winces.  
"Sorry, I didn’t know your mom was in. I’ll be more careful."  
"That’s not what I meant—well, not all of it." He takes in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. "… aren’t you worried people in the street will notice?"  
"Not really? What’s the chance of running into someone I know?" He flushes slightly, then, looking away and lowering his voice. "… and if I do, whatever. I don’t care." And quieter, even. “‘m not ashamed."  
And that shuts Shingo up, because maybe he doesn’t look embarassed, but he definitely looks vulnerable, and it makes him remember that for all the enthusiasm Naoki puts in everything, he’s not made of titanium and bares himself too much, too easily, and just because he recovers from pain quickly doesn’t mean one should carelessly inflict it.  
So he pulls Naoki’s jacket the rest of the way off his shoulders, sits him down on the bed where the difference in their height won’t be as troublesome, and brushes his fingers against a bruise again as he tries to piece everything together.  
"… it’s not just about the heat, is it? You wanted them out."  
Naoki nods, still looking away. Shingo keeps his eyes on him and presses, very lightly at first, and then gradually more firmly, until his breath catches with what almost sounds like a moan and he finally looks back at him.  
Trying his best to stay on track rather than let himself be carried away by Naoki’s voice ( _sweet_ , he finds himself thinking sometimes, _delicious_ , and then he blushes at the shape his thoughts are starting to take when it comes to Naoki, the more time they spend together like this), Shingo continues.  
"Does it make you happy?"  
"Yeah." He gives a small, derisive chuckle, but before Shingo can frown, he’s smiling again. "I mean, I can’t do it at school, obviously, but… It makes me feel strong? Somehow?" Another laugh. "It’s dumb, huh?"

Another thing he’ll have to look up, to research on. But in the meantime…  
"It’s not dumb. If anything," he adds with his best know it all expression, "I’m flattered," and Naoki’s surprised smile makes it all worth it.   
He pulls on his neck slightly, and Naoki obediently bends closer, until Shingo can pull the collar of his shirt towards his shoulder and reach the base of his neck.  
He wants to, he suddenly realises. It’s not just for Naoki’s sake. 

He sucks, gently, and then bites, and Naoki’s high pitched little whine only makes him press harder so he can get more noise out of him (it’s hard, sometimes, to get him to really react to pain). Naoki’s panting lightly when he lets go, and giving quiet hums of pleasure, so Shingo slides a hand into his hair to pull him down a bit and whispers into his ear.  
"I’ll walk you home. You can leave it open once we’re out."  
It’s worth it just to feel his skin heat up under Shingo’s hand.


End file.
